Wild high-speed pursuit ends with three arrests

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - A suspected car thief hit two parked cars, rammed two patrol cars and drove the wrong direction on three area highways while leading authorities on a wild pursuit Saturday, the California Highway Patrol said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - A suspected car thief hit two parked cars, rammed two patrol cars and drove the wrong direction on three area highways while leading authorities on a wild pursuit Saturday, the California Highway Patrol said.

The CHP apprehended three people after a 47-minute chase in which a man occupied three cars, reached speeds of 100 mph and drove into oncoming freeway traffic before officers rammed the vehicle to end the pursuit, authorities said. Officers arrested a man and two women, including at least one who was considered an accomplice, after forcing a red Mercury to stop near South Lincoln and West Sonora streets, police said.

Area law enforcement officers said it was one of the longest and most dangerous police pursuits they could recall.

"No pursuit is typical," said Officer James Smith, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. "However, this pursuit was extremely dangerous."

The chase began at 11:52 a.m. when an officer tried to initiate a traffic stop after spotting a man and woman in a stolen red Nissan pickup near Sutro Avenue and Waterloo Road, authorities said. The man then drove north on southbound Highway 99, officials said.

The man exited and merged onto area highways several times during the pursuit. He drove the wrong way on Highway 99, Highway 4 and Interstate 5, forcing CHP cars to cancel their pursuit a number of times out of concern for public safety while an aerial unit remained overhead, authorities said.

The man and woman ditched the Nissan truck in the 8000 block of Hillcrest Avenue and stole a Volvo, police said. They got out of the Volvo near South Fresno and Church streets and got into a Mercury being driven by another woman, authorities said. Officers initially believed the driver of the Mercury was a carjacking victim, but they later determined she was an accomplice, Smith said.

As the three occupants of the Mercury tried to flee, officers received permission to use the PIT maneuver, a technique used to stop high-risk pursuits, authorities said. The Mercury rammed a patrol car after one PIT maneuver failed, but a second attempt was successful, the highway patrol said.

The man jumped out of the car and attempted to climb a fence in a desperate attempt to jump into a slough that runs below South Lincoln Street, authorities said. The man was apprehended at 12:39 p.m. No CHP officers were hurt during the pursuit, Smith said.

Officers subsequently searched each of the vehicles the man occupied during the pursuit, authorities said. They found a handgun in the Nissan pickup and a stolen semiautomatic handgun in the Mercury, Smith said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of numerous crimes, including vehicle theft, evading police, hit-and-run and gun possession, authorities said. He also was arrested on two $100,000 warrants, one from San Joaquin County and one from Manteca, Smith said.

Authorities were withholding the man's name Saturday night because they were trying to determine if he was wanted in connection with another unrelated, unspecified felony crime, officers said.

Smith said pursuing officers may have saved innocent lives when they ended the chase.

"We've had pursuits go the wrong way before and we've had high speeds, but this was particularly dangerous," Smith said. "That's why we terminated the pursuit several times, and that's why, when the opportunity arose, we attempted to PIT the vehicle so we could stop this extremely reckless and dangerous driving before he injured somebody."